


Lightning in a Jar

by patentpending



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Fireflies, First Kiss, Fluff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wish Fulfillment, Wishes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-23 07:30:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14929889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patentpending/pseuds/patentpending
Summary: If you catch a firefly, you get to make a wish.  Everyone knows that, despite what Logan says.Patton is going to need all of the wishes he can get for this.





	Lightning in a Jar

**Author's Note:**

> If you don't live in an area with fireflies / lightning bugs / whatever you want to call them, this is what they look like:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k72jGJTC_3o

Patton Hart was a man on a mission.

He stood in the dusky twilight, hands on his hips, surveying the large, empty field before him.  The sun had just slipped beneath the horizon, settling down for a nap and unveiling the thousands of dazzling stars that glittered above his head.  Any other time, Patton would’ve looked up to catch the heavens in his eyes, but not today. Today, he had a job to do.

He narrowed his eyes, peering carefully at the wide, open field that curled up against his house.  He waited, breathless with anticipation. His fingers tapped impatiently against the mason jar clutched between his hands.  After all of this waiting, it sure was _jar_ -ring when it finally happened.

A single flicker of light was all it took to send a jolt of excitement through Patton.  With a wild whoop, he dove into the field. They were suddenly everywhere, swarming through the air, dancing to the music of wind weaving through the nearby trees, blinking brilliant gold - fireflies.  He laughed, standing at the epicenter of this storm of light. He watched them for a moment, joy making him shine just as brightly as the rest of them before he fought his grin down. There was no time for gawking.  He unscrewed the lid of the jar and gently set both parts down in the thick grass.

Patton looked around, determination setting his jaw.  If you caught a firefly, you got a wish, no matter how Logan protested that that was ‘in no way grounded in reality, Patton!’.  Around Patton were countless, brightly blinking fireflies. Innumerable wishes swirled through the velvety night around him.

Patton was going to need all of the wishes he could get for this.

He cupped his hands, narrowed his eyes, and pounced.

Patton was unsure how long he had been in love with Roman Prince, the dashing boy across the street.  They had been friends for as long as anyone could remember and neighbors for longer than that. They had been inseparable through kindergarten, elementary, junior high, and now high school.  He could hardly remember a day when Roman hadn’t sashayed into his life, eyes sparkling with mischief and yet another crazy scheme rolling off of his tongue.

He had worn their other friends out gushing over Roman.  

Logan had never understood the anxiety that came with crushes - when he realized his feelings for Virgil he had simply informed the emo that he “enjoyed his presence in a platonic sense and was interested in enjoying it in a romantic manner.  Would Friday at eight be amenable?”

Virgil, while he didn’t necessarily mind listening to his best friend ramble, had recently developed a bit of a glazed look in his eyes whenever Roman’s name fell from Patton’s lips.

D.C. had just taken to nodding along and muttering some variation of “Wow, I’m _so_ interested.”  or _“Please,_ continue.”  before derailing Patton with one of his cute snakes.

Even Thomas, who was always ready to talk about boys, was starting to get a little sick of Patton’s dreamy sighing.  “Patton,” He had finally said. “Why don’t you just ask him out?”

Patton had just laughed.  “Yeah, I wish.” He had said.  As he went home that night, he had seen the fireflies winking out of the darkness at him and had realized that’s exactly what he needed: a wish.

Patton chased the twinkling lights around the field, gently scooping them up in his hands and depositing them in the jar - specially fitted with a punctured lid so they could breathe.

He trailed a particularly golden lightning bug, growling as it kept avoiding his reach.  “Come… on!” He cried as it barely evaded his grasp. He crouched low, creeping through the grass and eyeing it as it steadily hovered in the air.  Just as he reached for it, however, the sharp, dry snap of a tree branch startled them both.

Shrugging off the strange sound, he groaned in frustration as it flitted away.

The snap had come from the still same forests that bordered his and Roman’s neighborhood.  When they were little, Roman had often raced with him through the light-dappled thickets, shrieking with laughter and dreaming up countless adventures, each more fantastic than the last.  Maybe it was there, collapsed with giggles in a patch of clovers, that he had first realized just what the lightning running through his veins whenever he heard Roman laugh meant.

Patton weaved and danced and jumped and tracked and caught as many wishes as he could before, with the jar pulsating with a golden glow, he deemed it ready.

Patton clutched the jar, brimming with light and magic, to his chest, shut his eyes, and wished.  He wished harder and more fervently than he had ever wished anything in his life. He poured every memory of his prince, his best friend, the love of his life, of _Roman_ into his effort.  “Please,” He murmured, lips barely moving.  “Please let it go well when I ask Roman out tomorrow.  Let him say yes. Don’t let me trip or do something stupid when I tell him that I love him.  Let us get together and be that sickeningly sweet couple that everyone coos over. Let him…” Patton faltered, suddenly overwhelmed by the swell of emotion in his chest.  “Let him know how much I love him.”

Patton slowly peeled open his eyes.  He lifted the jar to his eyes. “You guys got that?”  He fixed the fireflies with his Dad Glare (he had been practicing for when he and Roman would inevitably adopt an entire orphanage).  “Roman Prince. I love him. I’m going to ask him out. Let it go well, okay?”

The lightning bugs seemed to blink in agreement.

Patton smiled.  “Glad we’re on the same page, and sorry for _bugging_ you.”

He was unscrewing the lid of the jar when a sudden voice came from behind him.  He jumped, dropping the half-open jar and whirling around.

“I hardly think that you need to wish for that.”

Roman Prince, leaning against a tree with dancing eyes and a grinning lips, had spoken.

“Roman!”  Patton spluttered, a hot flush immediately overtaking his face.  If Logan was around, he probably would’ve tried to fry an egg on Patton’s face for science.  “I didn’t, um, see you there!” He rambled, arms waving erratically. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough,”  He answered, pulling away from the tree and sauntering forward.  “I saw you come outside and figured that I might as well come join in on the fun.”

“Really?”  Patton squeaked, stumbling backwards.  “And what do you mean by ‘long-’” He cut himself off with a yelp as he tripped over the discarded jar.

Roman surged forward, grabbing Patton seconds before he slammed into the ground.  “Are you okay?” His dark brown eyes scanned Patton’s face, seemingly heedless of the fact that they were flush from shoulder to knee and nearly horizontal.

“Yup,”  Patton giggled nervously.  “Thanks.”

Roman quirked his eyebrow roguishly, pulling both of them upright.  “But of course! I could hardly stand to let such a handsome knight meet an untimely demise.”  He didn’t remove his hands from Patton’s waist, and Patton didn’t unwind his arms from around Roman’s neck.

They simply stood there for a moment, gazing at each other.

This was getting weird.  They probably should’ve pulled away.

They didn’t.

“Did you mean it?”  Roman suddenly asked, his shoulders tightening impercably.

“Yes,”  Patton said simply.  There was no point in denying it, not when everywhere they were pressed together radiated heat, not when the way he felt must’ve shone in his eyes whenever he looked at Roman, not when it was true.

“Oh,”  Roman said, momentarily stunned into silence.  Then he grinned. “Good,” He said, and Roman leaned forward and kissed him.

As their lips met, the fireflies started to pick their way out of the jar, gradually taking to the air and flashing a brilliant gold.

It looked the way the kiss felt - warm, sweet, and so natural Patton couldn’t believe that it had never happened before.

They broke apart, looked at each other, and started to giggle.

Wishes were swirling around them in a dazzling, glowing display, but Patton didn’t care at all.  Everything he could have wanted was right here.

“I love you,”  He told Roman, lights shining in his eyes.

Roman grinned at him, pressing their foreheads together.  “I love you too.”

Maybe wishes really did come true.

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 17 of Powerless will be up soon, but I had this idea and it wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it. Plus, Royality is such an underrated ship.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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